Product Description: Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/23/2006
Amazon.com: Deep Space Nine's fifth season was a turning point from which there was no going back. Character and information overload took over, and the complicated twists and turns in the build up to war either hooked viewers securely, or sent them away with a headache. The Klingon faction instigated by Worf's arrival was occasionally played for laughs, but mostly their hardheaded personalities made all efforts at diplomacy moot. In the opening episode a chilling possibility is proposed as to what might be: have the Changelings infiltrated already and replaced key personnel? Some fans saw this as a flawed X-Files-style development. Nevertheless it sowed a seed of insidious suspicion, affecting all the principal casts' relationships with one another, even allowing Odo and Quark an opportunity to confess a degree of friendship. Expanding on the new theme of duplication, the crew also made numerous trips to their mirror-universe counterparts.
As well as new uniforms and the milestone 100th episode, Nana Visitor and Alexander Siddig got to comically disguise the arrival of their child during filming. More laughs came from the fan favorite "Trials and Tribble-ations," with CG allowing Sisko and crew to interact with Kirk and a cameo from Leonard Nimoy. Avery Brooks began taking a backseat, partly a result of the now-overcrowded cast. Although Sisko's destiny would be foreshadowed by his first vision and the introduction of the Pah-wraiths, the Captain was in an increasingly sulky mood. Brooks only directed one episode, allowing room for regulars LeVar Burton and Rene Auberjonois to do more behind the camera. Joining them were Alexander Siddig, Michael Dorn and even Andrew Robinson. Available space started to seem hardly deep enough. --Paul Tonks
Best Star Trek Ever ^ This is my favorate Star Trek series. It arrived in good condition and faster than expected. So far no less than 5 of my friends want to borrow it. If you can get it do so.
Great Watching ^ This was a try out to see if "used" were good! I'm happy to say that except for the "used-looking" cover this entire set was perfect when watched, coming through without a flaw and was well worth the search and the money I paid for it.
No show. ^ They DVD's came right away but unfortunately two of them were defective. I returned them free of charge with ease but they were a Christmas Day disapointment.
At its prime ^ After several very good seasons, DS9 really hit its prime in season 5. At this point each of the show's arcs had picked up enough steams they could pretty much run on themselves; earlier investment in characters, particularly recurring ones, paid off dividends. Worf, who'd felt somewhat tacked on as a publicity plot in season 4, was merging much better into the cast and with the rest of the storyline. As always there was a dud or two ("Ferengi Love Songs" is the worst in this batch), but even the middle of the pack is fairly strong. The classics are well-known: "The Ship", "Rapture", "In Purgatory's Shadow", "By Inferno's Light", "Empok Nor", and the classic original-series tribute "Trials and Tribble-ations". The one episode I'd single out for props is "A Call to Arms" - perhaps the best season finale that DS9 ever had.
It's a shame that many people lose interest in DS9 during the first season and a half - because if you have made it this far, the decision really pays off. Great science-fiction television!
Another superb season of my favorite ST series ^ There is a good reason that STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE is my favorite series in the STAR TREK franchise: it comes closest to embracing a serial rather than an episodic format. No STAR TREK series was completely a serial, but this came closest by far. This was always something of a mystery to me, because clearly STAR TREK: VOYAGER should have had this distinction. That series was completely structured to be a serial, with the show having a natural beginning (Voyager's being stranded in the Delta quadrant), a middle (the journey across the bulk of the quadrant), and an end (Voyager's return to the Alpha quadrant and therefore to home). But by focusing on perpetually meeting new races and challenges, Voyager short circuited what could have been its most positive asset. DS9, however, made the greatest use of any of the ST series on the political relations between the various Alpha quadrant empires, and made it all the more richer by introducing the Dominion and the Founders who arrived from the Gamma quadrant. My one regret with DS9 was that it never became a full blown serial like FARSCAPE or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, but if it had, it would have been an absolutely spectacular show.
Another reason DS9 was stronger than TNG or VOYAGER was that it employed fewer gimmicks involving Magic Science, either using some bizarrely speculative scientific solution to a problem (a device that sometimes crippled both series, though not nearly as much as some other series, like STARGATE SG-1, on which the scientific solutions got so silly at times as to render the show a comedy -- how many times did we see alternative reality versions of the main characters?). For the most part, DS9 departed from this, maintaining a relative realism. The show focused very little on science, but instead on interstellar global politics and interpersonal relations. I actually think other ST series had stronger natural casts, but the writing and format was so much stronger that it more than made up for it.
There were some nice developments in Season Five. Kira had the O'Brien's baby. Nog returned to serve as something of an intern while away from Star Fleet Academy (they never really explained how that was possible, but Nog was a lot of fun as an Ensign -- more fun than as a scamp -- so that is OK). Odo once again became a changling. The only major arc that really bugged me was Dax and Worf. Few couples that I've ever seen on TV had less chemistry than these two, not just as lovers, but as friends. I found it utterly impossible to buy the two of them even as buddies. They simply did not feel right together, had little in the way of fun interplay, and weren't fun to watch. At least I had no fun watching them.
One thing that amazed me about DS9 is how consistent it was from beginning to end. People love to debate about which seasons of what shows are best. People debate endlessly whether Season Two, Three, or Five of BUFFY was the best, and since those really were better than the other seasons, the debate makes some sense. With other shows, there is very little debate. Season Three of FARSCAPE was so good that just about no series ever made had a season that could compete. But one could make a good case for just about any season of DS9 as the best, though in my opinion each season was a tiny bit better than the last. But that was only because the series benefited form the accumulating storylines. All in all, a very good show indeed.
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